The Exploration of New York
by Roxburry Black
Summary: While Vash is in a meeting in New York Lilli sneaks out of the explore the city. There she meets a blind boy who is much more than he seems. It is a date to remember.


I do not own Hetalia

3#$#$#$

The meeting in New York wasn't supposed to take this long. America and Switzerland had been talking and debating for several hours. This left a bored Lichtenstein to wander around the building that had not an ounce of the excitement that her brother had promised her. Vash had promised to take her to explore the city as she had never had the chance to see New York. It was nearing two in the afternoon and the arguing was still going strong when the normally sweet tempered Lilli was fed up.

Grabbing her coat and cell phone the small nation left only a small note at the front desk and with a wide grin, swept onto the streets. Even in front of the UN building foot traffic was bustling and Lilli found herself dragged along with the crowds. Not that she minded, it as a welcome change of pace from the small town on the border of her country. Her smile widened as millions of sounds and smells assaulted her nose. The sweet smell of hotdogs mixed in with the symphony of other smells to create a rich and peculiar scent. A sweet wind brushed along the street, chilling many but making the nation laugh with pleasure.

The hundreds of stores enthralled her, sparking a fierce desire to buy and explore. None of the thousands of people she passed spared her a second glance.

After an hour a free spirit was reminded she hadn't actually seen the landmarks she wanted to. At the next newspaper stand she bought a map and marked down ten places.

"You know young lady," the old man behind the stand said, "I know someone who could be a great guide for you. "

"Oh," Lilli's distrust immediately flared but her face remained sweet and trusting, "Who."

On this man she could sense so many different nations it made her dizzy.

"My son," the nation relaxed, he was just trying to be helpful, "He knows this city like the back of his hand."

"Oh, no thanks," her laugh was sweet, "I'm."

"No really!" Eger to please he brandished several more maps in her face. Lilli stepped back and glanced around. The several hundred of New Yorkers didn't seem to notice.

"Please sir," Vash would just add this altercation on the list of reasons she should always be glued to his side. She wanted some freedom.

"I'm." Lilli took another step back, getting a tad bit alarmed. To her horror she ran directly into a very broad and muscular chest for a man she hadn't noticed.

'Fluffy, are you bothering this young lady?" Lilli squeaked in fear, reaching for her mace in her coat pocket. The voice didn't seem threatening but they were in the big city, many people were dangerous who didn't look it. In fact, the voice was smooth and juvenile with an undercurrent of sadness that no normal human would notice.

"No Lance!" Fluffy protested. Lilli tensed as two large but gentle hands rested on her shoulders. "I was."

"Just bothering her." Like a mouse in a trap Lilli squeaked when the man finally stepped to her side and into her field of vision. She gasped. He was tall, almost as tall as Sweden. He wore a pair of tan slacks and a curious jacket with echoes of military design. A plain blue scarf was wrapped around his neck in a very relaxed manner, in reminded her dimly of Netherlands. His face however, immediately caught Lilli's attention. Angular and smooth with perfect pink lips it was a face that Hungary would call. Art. However, he wore a pair of dark sunglasses.

"What have I told you about bothering tourists? It makes the city look bad."

"But Lance!"

"No buts Fluffy."

The old man looked defeated and retreated behind the stand. The nation blushed when a beatific smile was bestowed upon her.

"I'm sorry Miss. That doesn't happen very often." A strange sensation overcame the nation.

"I'm sorry, but." Fiddled with her hands, "Are you blind."

Lance's eyebrows rose to Everest heights.

"Yes." He frowned a bit, "Not many people notice it."

"Well," she blushed again. Lance was physically about her age and very attractive. "You don't have cane."

"Ah," his face brightened, "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Lance Jones." He held out a hand.

"And I'm Lilli Vogel."

"European if I'm not mistaken."

"Of course." She took his hand, blush intensifying.

"Well Miss Lilli. Would you like to tour the city with me? As an apology for Fluffy's terrible behavior?"

"I don't know," suddenly shy she thought of what her brother would say. Nodding she realized her mistake. "Of course."

"Well," he proffered an arm, "I think there are several places a young tourist would like to see."

"I'm 17," she reprieved, taking his arm.

"Ah," he smiled her direction, "I am 17 also."

#$#$#$#$

"America," said disgruntled Swiss, "Hurry up. I'd like to wrap this up before tomorrow."

"Look Vash," the superpower gestured to his ambassadors, "They're the ones dragging their feet. I can't do a thing about it."

#$#$#$#$#

"And this is my favorite shop in Chinatown." A little bell announced the arrival of Lance and Lilli. Behind the cluttered shelves emerged an ancient Chinese man that was half the height of the boy. "I think you'll see why soon."

The short man released a furious barrage of fast paced Chinese that Lilli easily understood but for the sake of her guide, pretended not to.

"What did he say?" She whispered.

"He would like to tell the beautiful woman that everything in the shop is half off."

Lilli nodded and gave a short bow to the man, delighted he spoke faster. Lilli blushed and so did Lance.

"I'm not telling you what he said." Lance said quickly, "But take a look around, this place is very cool. I know it's got some trinkets around here somewhere."

Now Lilli focused on the shelves and gasped.

"Oh, this is beautiful!" She scurried around the shelves to examine every little thing. If she would have look she would have seen a sad smile on Lance's face. With on hand he reached out of lay a finger on the closest item. A small clay tiger with zodiac symbols. A heavy weight seemed to make his shoulders droop.

"Lilli, take a look at some of the clothes!" He called. The shop owner nodded in agreement.

Twenty minutes later the two strolled back onto the street, Lance graciously carrying Lilli's bag.

"Thank you so much for showing me that store."

"No problem." He patted her arm and took a sniff. "If I'm not mistaken I think you would like to see the Statue of Liberty."

Lilli's grin broadened. America was much more fun than she had anticipated.

"Of course!"

"Off we go then. I know a little boat that will take us to Ellis Island."

#$#$3

The day passed with ease and to Lilli seemed to drain away. Before she even noticed it the day had disappeared and the sun was sinking beneath the horizon. On the top of the Empire State Building the wind blew with fury, the cold sank past Lilli's coat and into her skin.

"You can almost see that whole city from here." She breathed, hugging her chest.

"It's beautiful isn't it?" She glanced to the side. Lance seemed both joyful and miserable at the same time. His angular face drawn in a small frown.

"Is something wrong?" Without a second thought she snuggled into his side, trying to keep warm and offer comfort. They had spent the entire day exploring the various sights of the financial capital of the world.

On Wall Street he had given an in depth explanation of the house market collapse. It had been much worse than Lilli had thought mostly because Vash's meddling kept her from seeing a good portion of the world.

On Ellis Island he had taken her to the very top of the Statue of Liberty and shown her all of the museum; all the while teaching her about the immigration rules of the late centuries.

At times square he had shown her many of the most beautiful shops in the world while encouraging her to enjoy herself.

He had taken her on a short walk through the park, a small hot dog vendor near the baseball stadium, a little amusement park, down the subway, to a man playing jazz on the corner. All the while his courteous behavior, sweet words, and sharp wit kept her both amused and bashful. Even if he was human, she decided, he would make a very nice boyfriend.

Hungary would be proud of her.

"Well," his soft words brought her back to the present, "I am a little sad."

"Oh?" He didn't answer but lowering her bags he pulled off his coat and settled it on her shoulders. Lilli blushed, a tiny bit glad he could not see it, and slipped her much smaller arms into the sleeves. It was warm and smelled like freshly made bread. The nation was glad he didn't remove his scarf; otherwise he would be really cold.

"Do you see it?"

"Depends," she twisted her hands for a moment, "What am I supposed to be seeing?"

"The new World Trade Center." Icy fear gripped her heart and Lilli's hand began to shake. Something wasn't right here.

"I see it." Out of the corner of her eye a flash of blond caught her attention but it was gone around the corner before she could get a good look. "That was the one place you didn't take me."

"Yes," Lance shrugged then stiffened when she placed a small hand on his shoulder, "I'm sorry but." His pretty face contorted, "That's enough of sad things." He smiled and held out his arm, "There is one thing I have left to show you."

"What is that?" Then nation took his arm and steered him to the exit of the observation deck.

"Times Square at night."

Neither of them saw the blond man with green eyes and a blue dress peek around the corner with a brown haired man next to him.

"Liet, did you see that?" Poland's grip on Lithuania's arm tightened.

"Yes," befuddled the eastern nation scratched his head. "Wasn't that Lichtenstein?"

"Totally," Poland whipped out his phone to snap a picture, "Let's go!"

"What?" Lithuania pulled back on Poland's arm.

"We're going to follow him! We have to meet the boy who Switzy let take Lilli on a date!"

"We can't just follow them." Lithuania cried as he was pulled into the elevator, that's so rude!"

#$#$#$#$#$#$#

Lithuania was getting very nervous. He recognized both the boy and the girl and neither thought who the other person actually was. If Poland realized the boy's secret the nation would be deader than a doornail. Following the two was much easier done than said because of the combined practice of stalking people. For once the valley girl nation was calm and focused, ducking past people and blending into the surroundings.

"This is going to so amazing. We can use this for blackmail for America when we want tickets to Disney Land."

"I don't think that's a good idea," They had reached Times Square. Lilli was taking as many pictures as possible with her disposable camera. The boy was smiling broadly; he still held all of the bags but looked happier than he had at the observation deck. His head bent down when Lilli touched his arm and then he nodded. For a moment they got very close together and smiled at the camera while Lilli took a picture of them both.

"Doesn't that boy look a lot like Netherland's?" whispered Poland, snapping some pictures of his own.

"Umm," Lithuania kept a sharp eye on his watch.

"LOOK!" Poland squealed, his hand clamped on Liet's arm with astonishing strength. "LOOK!"

"I see it." Lithuania hissed, trying to tug his hand free, "I see it."

The blond nation began to snap as many pictures as possible because twenty feet of ahead of them underneath a glowing billboard Lilli was kissing the boy.

#$#$

"I hope you liked the city." Lance shifted the bags, standing after Lilli had taken the picture of them.

"I loved it. It's so big and modern and so." Lilli took a deep breath, "beautiful." She said this not looking at the square but looking at Lance. Her face turned pink yet again while his smile widened; joyful and true it looked a lot like America's.

"Lilli," He asked, sounding almost afraid, "May I ask you something?"

"Ja."

"May I," she shrugged, "May I see your face?"

"But," confusion rippled under her skin, "How?" Lance lowered the bags to the ground and held it hands loose and in surrender. "Oh," she grinned, "Of course."

To her never ending surprise Lance's hand were much warmer than she had anticipated. With sweet gentleness his thumbs rested on her cheeks. Kindly and not crassly his fingertips probed her face, tracing her nose, eyes and ears.

"What color are your eyes?"

"Green?" His hands settled on her hair, feeling its texture and length.

"And your hair?"

"Blonde."

His hand trailed onto her neck, down her shoulders and then took her hands, "they were right you know. Everyone. You really are beautiful."

"Thank you. But there is a part you missed." She blushed, if Vash ever saw this she would die and so would he but if she didn't Hungary would be so disappointed. Lilli would be disappointed.

"I don't think so. I got all of your face."

Still draped in his much bigger coat she pulled his face a few inches down and giggled at his confused expression.

"You missed my lips."

"Oh!" He didn't get more of a chance to speak. Their lips were pressed together, smooth and fitting. Chaste and short it still left both breathless and pink faced. "Well, now I know what you really look like."

#$#$#$#$

"Gotcha!"

Lithuania contained a little squeal, even with the boys impending doom it was still a very cute scene. It wasn't every day that young love had an adorable kiss in Times Square. Okay, so maybe it was but he wasn't going to focus on that. Instead he was going to focus on the fact that Poland was snapping as may pictures as possible now that the two were climbing into a taxi.

"There is no way America is going to let old Vashy kill one of his citizens. Now I can blackmail him with this information!"

"Something is telling me this is a really bad idea."

"It's not a bad idea!" Poland hissed standing straight up, "Now let's get to the UN building. You just know that is where we will find they will be."

#$#$#$

America and Switzerland finally left the meeting at nine in the evening. Vash trusting that Lilli's obedient nature would keep her in the building. Perhaps she took a nap but if she got bored she would ask for permission to go back to the hotel to do whatever. But the nation was fuming. America had tried to be helpful but the officials were dragging their feet on both sides. If he didn't know better he would have said the America even look tired and worn. But he was America and everyone knew that America would never be tired.

"Didn't you promise to take Lilli out today?"

"Yes," he grunted, wishing that his gun was with him, "But she'll understand." He glanced at the blue eyed nation. America was biting his lip, clearly suppressing a smirk. "What?"

"Nothing. I don't know anything. Don't ask me." Vash's frowned deepened.

"What!"

"Don't ask me!" America began to chuckle, "But I don't think you should just assume stuff about your little sister."

"And what would you know about having someone to take care of." Vash stepped out of the elevator and stopped short. In the lobby Lilli was placing a kiss on the lips of a boy who looked mysteriously like Netherlands and America.

America made a noise like a strangled cat, his face going beet red and a hand went to his heart. Neither nation spoke, too stunned by the sudden boldness of the tiny nation. But the kiss was over in a second and the boy left with a sweet word and waltzed out of the room.

Then the other shoe dropped.

"LILLI!" The bellow made everyone in the lobby freeze with fear at the sight of a short blond looking a frightening shade of murderous.

Demure and calm Lilli nodded at his pink face, "Hello big brother!" Her smile became astonishingly wicked, "I had a fun in New York." With that she waltzed out of the room just as Poland and Lithuania slammed through the door.

"JONES!" Poland shouted, brandishing a pink phone, "I'VE!" Both stopped at the sight of a furious and confused Vash. "Oh."

# # # #

America massaged the side of his head. If ears could go raw from being yelled at he wouldn't have an ear left. Vash had shouted at him for several hours. Why? America wasn't entirely sure. Well, he was but it's not like Vash could blame him for the happenings of his citizens.

"So when is that little shit getting here?"

"Relax Vash," he nodded to Lilli.

It was the next day; still sitting in the United Nation building Lilli was going to introduce Lance to Vash.

"This is taking too long." Vash was seething but neither America nor Lilli were concerned.

"He's here." America said just before the door opened and Lance walked through.

"Hello Lance!" Lilli called, a blush stained his cheeks when he replied.

"Hello Lilli."

"Over here Lance," America called and the teen eased around the table, a hand trailing along the wall. Once he was seated the superpower took a deep breath. The identical green eyes of the Europeans unnerved him more than he wished to admit.

"Vash, allow me to introduce Lance Ryker Jones. Also known as New York State."

The shock was palpable, Lilli's eyes had expanded to the size of dinner plates while Vash's had sunk to small, dangerous slits.

"He is my son." Lance turned to America with horror on his face.

"DAD!"

"Relax Lance," he said wearily, "They are nations. Vash is Switzerland and Lilli is Lichtenstein."

"WHAT?!" Vash was roaring now, standing up with a hand reaching toward his taser. Lilli didn't seem to be capable of thought but after a moment turned toward Lance.

"How old are you?"

The question was soft yet it shut up a yelling Vash. Lance scratched his head.

"I've been around since I was called New Netherlands. So about 300 years old." He smiled her direction, "you can't be much older than I."

"I'm not," Lilli moved around the table, the adults forgotten. "I just. Can't believe you're like me."

"Nor can I," his grin widened, "It seems too implausible."

"Not really," She rested a hand on his arm, staring openly, "I could feel the magic when we first met."

"Magic?" His grin widened, "What kind of magic? Romance or the nation kind?"

In another part of the room Vash was being forcibly retrained by America to keep from attacking.

"Both." They grinned and kissed, much to the delight of America and fury of Switzerland.

3$#$#$#$

Several Months Later

"I can't believe you managed to get Vash to agree to this." Lilli was seated upon a blue and white checkered table cloth with a picnic basket next to her. Lance was munching on a sandwich that he had painstakingly made that morning with America.

"I can, I had to bribe him with a Civil War era gun." He said, extending a hand toward her, she took it.

"But I can't tell the rest of the world I have a boyfriend," he blushed at the word, "They might hunt you down to demand answers."

"I know." Below him the small down they had climbed from was spread out like a map, he could sense the trembling city trough the Swiss mountain. "But the meeting was held in Berne this year. Which is really nice because I liked to come to the mountains before." His voice trailed off.

"But you can't see it anymore."

"No," he grinned, "But you can surly describe it. Right?"

Lilli kissed the corner of his mouth, "Of course."


End file.
